Harry Potter and the Lost Island
by PolarBearMagus
Summary: Harry Potter meets Lost! Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are trapped on the Island. Various subplots include: Ships, the Others, a Prophecy, and Backgammon! It's my first fanfic so enjoy! Please review! Finished as of May 30th!
1. Attacked!

Harry mournfully looked up at the stormy ceiling of the Great Hall. Today was going to be miserable, he just knew it. The professors were pushing them harder than ever now that N. E. W. T. year was upon them, and he still hadn't found any more horcruxes. 

"Cheer up, mate," said Ron, his mouth filled with pancakes. "At least none of our classes are outside."

"But Quidditch practice will be nasty," replied Ginny, sliding to a seat next to Hermione, who was studying for Transfiguration.

"Ginny, you're not supposed to sit with us," said Harry. "It gives the wrong impression." He was referring to their apparent break-up, which was somehow supposed to deter Voldemort from using Ginny against him. Hermione kept pointing out that if Voldemort didn't know they had broken up, it hardly made a difference.

"I can still ask Hermione a question, which doesn't involve talking to you," she retorted.

Flurries of sopping wet owls were thrown into the Hall by a blast of wind and water. Harry found Hedwig, splotched with mud, and watched her teeter over to his table. She dropped a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in front of Hermione, then landed on Harry's arm. "Thanks, Hedwig. Take care of yourself, okay?" he said, smoothing some of her feathers with his hand. She hooted softly, nipped his fingers affectionately, and took off for the owlery.

"Anyone we know dead?" Ron asked Hermione, who was busy skimming the paper.

"Stop asking that Ron," Ginny snapped. "It's not exactly comforting."

"More dementor attacks…" said Hermione with an air of old news, "Inferi in Bristol…giants in Kent…Muggle killings…oh those poor people!"

"What?" cried Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"'A plane disappeared over the Pacific two months ago, and has yet to be found despite the constant search. Although mostly Muggles, two wizards were on board…'" read Hermione, trailing off as she continued to peruse the article.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny exchanged exasperated looks. "Hermione, you really need to figure out which news is bad news," admonished Ron.

BOOM! Everyone in the Hall stopped talking and looked towards the shadowed Entrance Hall. Dark shapes swooped past the door. Nobody moved.

Two of them appeared at the open doors. They loomed in the doorway for several moments, their robes billowing behind them. They raised their wands.

"GET DOWN!" Harry bellowed, and pushed the girls off the bench just as red jets flew over their heads. He ducked under the table, where other Gryffindors were taking cover.

"We can't get out," Ron yelled over the screams from other tables. "They've blocked the only exit."

Harry looked around, with an oddly clear head. Some students were running up and down the aisles, and were the easiest targets. But the Death Eaters might come in to make sure they'd gotten everyone. The staff table was empty, which he hadn't noticed until now.

"There!" he yelled, and pointed to the door behind the staff table where he'd entered after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. "I have my cloak with me, we might be able to make it!"

He started to crawl down the hall, trying to keep under the table. He didn't look back, knowing the others would follow him. After what felt like hours, they had reached the end of the Gryffindor table, had crossed the distance between their table and the staff table, and were at the door. Harry glanced quickly toward the entrance. The Death Eaters were prodding the fallen students, sometimes stunning those that moved.

_Alohomora!_ he thought as he tapped the lock with his wand. He twisted the handle, but couldn't open the door. A slight panic began to rise in his chest. "_Alohomora!_" he tried, but the door refused to open.

"Let me try," whispered Hermione.

"Over there!" one of the Death Eaters shouted to his companion. It was now or never.

Losing his head completely, Harry yelled "Lemon drop" at the door, which still didn't budge. A jet of red light shot right in front of him.

Without thinking, Harry grabbed Ron's arm with one hand and Hermione's with the other, and turned. At the last second, he felt something slam into his back. Then he Apparated.

* * *

Off balance, Harry fell over, taking Ron and Hermione, and whatever was clinging to his back, with him. The whatever-it-was rolled off, and he could breathe.

Hermione screamed, "Harry how did you do it! You're not supposed to be able to Disapparate from Hogwarts, but you did, oh I've never been so happy to be wrong!" She hugged him, then stood up. Ron grumbled as he picked himself off the ground, which was covered in large tropical plants.

"I never want to Apparate," cried a shuddering Ginny. "It's so uncomfortable."

"Ginny!" exclaimed Harry. "Thank goodness, I didn't even think about it! I just grabbed Ron and Hermione out of reflex." He stood, helped her up, and looked around.

"Is it even possible to Apparate with three other people?" asked Ron, who was still sore that someone hadn't given _him _a hug.

"Apparently," said Harry, not really listening. They seemed to be in some sort of jungle. Everything had that damp just-rained look. "Er…where are we?"

"Not exactly London, is it?" asked Ron as he inspected a large leaf.

"London!" cried Hermione. "Harry, we need to find the Order! We need to tell the Order about Hogwarts, you can Apparate us to Grimmauld Place, if you can get past the spells on Hogwarts, I'm sure you can get past the ones there!" She pulled Ginny over and grabbed his arm.

Ron looked skeptical. "I dunno, Hermione. What if it was only a one-time thing?"

"He can at least try!"

Harry sighed. He made sure everyone was holding on, then turned, keeping Number 12, Grimmauld Place in mind. Then fell over. The others let go just in time.

"Harry, you're not trying," Hermione scolded him gently.

"I am!" he replied angrily. "I can't Apparate." He glared at her from the ground as she thought for a second, then closed her eyes. She turned as well, but didn't fall over. After she'd made a complete circle, she opened her eyes.

"I can't even Apparate over there," she said, pointing ten feet away.

"Great!" snapped Ron. "Now what? We must be thousands of miles from home. You think we should just walk there?"

Harry shrugged. "It beats just standing here." He stood up again, picked a direction, and started walking.

"Where are we going, exactly?" asked Ginny as she fell in step with Harry. Ron and Hermione were bickering behind them.

"Towards civilization, I hope."

* * *

They walked for several hours. It rained a couple of times, but never for more than a few minutes. There was still no sign of people anywhere.

"I'm hungry," Ron complained for the umpteenth time.

"So eat something," Ginny snapped.

"I don't have anything to eat, thanks Ginny," he retorted.

"There's something over there," said Hermione. "Coconuts, maybe?" she pointed a little ways off the trail.

Ron rushed over toward the coconuts. He picked one up and tried to break it on one of the rocks next to it. "Ron, you don't know where those have been!" cried Hermione.

"Then I won't give you any to eat," he replied. Harry and Ginny back tracked to join Hermione.

"Coconuts?" asked Harry doubtfully. "That's kind of random."

Ron gave up on his current coconut and reached for another one to try instead.

The next thing they knew, all four of them were hanging six feet above the ground in a small rough-rope net. "Ron, you prat!" cried Ginny, "Why'd you have to go for the coconuts?"

"I can't believe you just said that," laughed Harry. He tried to get his wand, which was securely situated in his back pocket, but he couldn't reach it, he was at a weird angle. "Can anyone reach their wand to get us out of this thing?" he asked with another laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Hermione as she tried to reach her own wand. "This isn't exactly funny."

"This trap means we're close to people, which means we're closer to getting out of this stupid jungle," he happily replied.

"I got mine!" said Ron. ("We're doomed," whispered Ginny.) "I'm going to try to cut the rope." Harry waited patiently, trying not to think about the falling part of getting out of this net. "It's not working!" Ron cried. ("Big surprise," hissed Ginny.)

"Give it to me!" Hermione ordered. Harry saw a couple of sparks out of the corner of his eye, but nothing else happened. "That's strange," mused Hermione. "The spell's working, but it's not cutting the rope. I think I'll try…"

Movement in the ferns made Harry tense up. "Hermione, wait," he whispered. A woman stalked out of the underbrush. She had wild brown hair, wide eyes, and a gun. She circled below them, eyeing them skeptically.

"Excuse me," tried Harry, "but could you let us down?"

She silently disappeared into the foliage. "Nice going, Harry!" Ron said.

"It was worth a shot," Harry defended himself. "Hermione, try again, before she comes back. We can't afford to let her see us do magic."


	2. Other Children

Sayid was sitting on the beach and trying not to think about Henry Gale and the Others. Questions like "what did they want?" and "what were they doing right now?" just kept going around in circles and gave him a headache. He closed his eyes against the glare of the sun on the ocean, but a shadow quickly fell across his eyes. He opened them again, only to find Rousseau standing in front of him.

"Danielle? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I have captured four more of them," she said, nodding towards the jungle.

"What am I supposed to do with them?" he sighed. "We already have that last one." She started to walk off, but Sayid scrambled up and cut her off. "Wait. Take me to them."

Rousseau considered, then nodded once. "We leave in five minutes," she told him, and stepped around him toward the jungle.

Sayid hesitated only a second before running to the hatch. Jack, Kate, Ana Lucia, and Locke were there, discussing Henry Gale, and going in circles themselves by the sound of it.

"Jack, Danielle has four more of the Others," he said. "I need a group of people to help me collect them."

"All right," said Jack. "I'll go with you."

"I won't be much help trekking through the jungle," said Locke, gesturing to his hurt leg.

"I need to keep an eye on our friend here," said Ana Lucia, glancing toward the armory door.

Kate looked from one group to the other. "I guess I'll come with you, Sayid," she said, managing a smile.

Sayid nodded his appreciation. "We must leave now." He led them out of the hatch and back down to the beach. Rousseau was standing at the tree line.

"It is not far," she assured them, and began walking into the jungle.

They started to follow, when a voice called, "Hey, where are you going?" Charlie jogged up. "I can come, I want to help."

"I thought you were working on the church?" asked Kate.

"Yeah, we're taking a break right now," Charlie explained. "So…can I come?"

* * *

Sayid noticed several differences between the last Other and these new ones. Henry Gale had been very calm, telling his story right off. These children sounded scared, and were frantically trying to free themselves from the net. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it…

"Kids?" asked Kate. "There have never been kids before!"

"Well, maybe they're trying to trick us into trusting them," Jack guessed.

Rousseau had left them when they were in sight of the trap, but the group remained hidden to try to observe the Others when they thought they were alone. Sometimes a slightly panicked voice would rise above the others, saying things like "that woman had a _gun!_" or "the Muggle will be back any second" before it was shushed by the others.

"What's a Muggle?" asked Jack.

"Probably the Others' term for us," Sayid hypothesized. "I wonder what it -"

"Um, guys?" interrupted Charlie. "Have you ever heard of British Others?"

"They have British accents?" asked Kate. "How can you tell?"

"Think it's time we introduced ourselves?" asked Jack. He stepped out into the more-open clearing where the net was hanging. He heard several whispers from above as the others followed him.

"Who are you?" he asked. Best to start with the obvious questions first.

Three of the kids looked at one with black hair and glasses. He called out, "I'm Harry Potter, and this is really uncomfortable. Would you mind letting us down? We're just trying to get home, and -"

"Harry Potter," interrupted a brown-haired girl. "Does that name mean anything to you? Harry. Potter," she repeated slowly.

"No," said a slightly confused Jack. He looked at his companions, who all seemed equally confused. "Should we know it?"

The girl sighed. "No, I suppose not."

"How did you get here?" Sayid asked.

"Er…" the black-haired boy exchanged looks with his companions. "We're not exactly sure," he replied. He seemed to be their spokesman. "We shouldn't even be here, really. Where _is_ here, anyway?"

"On an island in the middle of the Pacific," said Sayid. "We crashed here two months ago." The girl gasped. He looked at her.

"I was just reading about you. They're looking for you, but they can't find you, and…that's all," she finished lamely. "I don't think we'll be getting home anytime soon," she told her friends.

"Could you please let us down?" asked the red-haired girl with freckles. "This is a bit ridiculous, we've been up here for over an hour."

Everyone looked at Jack, who thought about it, then nodded. As Sayid bent to untie the knot, he added, "But understand that if you run away, we'll shoot you."

"Don't worry about that," said the black-haired boy, "We've been wandering around trying to find people, we're not about to run away from them."

Jack and the others exchanged wary looks as the net fell to the ground in a tangle of rope and limbs. "Jack, we don't have a gun," warned Kate. "We didn't exactly have time to bring one."

"Yeah, but they don't know that," he said.

When the kids had sorted themselves out, there were two girls and two boys, wearing black robes over what appeared to be school uniforms. "Dressed a bit dodgy, aren't they?" asked Charlie to no one in particular.

"I'm Harry," repeated the black-haired boy in glasses, "this is Hermione," (he pointed to the girl with bushy brown hair) "Ron," (to a tall red-haired boy with freckles) "and Ginny," (a short red-haired girl with freckles). "They're siblings," he explained about Ron and Ginny.

Jack pointed to his own group members. "Kate, Charlie, Sayid, and I'm Jack. Where are you from again?"

"England," said Hermione. "You?"

"Good call, Charlie," said Kate quietly.

"We're a mix of people. We're going to have to take you back to the rest and figure out what to do with you," said Jack, watching them carefully.

He expected them to protest, or push their story like Henry Gale did, but they just looked at each other, shrugged, and said various forms of "lead the way."

"Okay, one of you with one of us, let's go." Harry walked over and they started back to the hatch. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Harry looked over his shoulder to see Hermione go with Kate, Ron with Charlie, and Ginny with Sayid.

"You don't know how you got here?" Jack tried again. Harry refused to look at him…or maybe he was just watching his step.

"We just woke up here. Very strange. But we need to get home as soon as possible." Jack had to smother a smile. These Others were either poorly trained, or these kids were doing something they weren't supposed to.

Kate wasn't having any more luck with her own Other. "We just woke up here," said Hermione in answer to the same question. "We don't really understand what's going on."

It was the same with Ron and Ginny. "We just woke up here, we don't get it, we only want to go home, we have to go home."

They reached the hatch. Sayid again noted the differences between their reactions and Henry Gale's. Gale hadn't cared, but these kids were fascinated, and their eyes went everywhere. He also noticed that the armory door was open, and that Gale was looking out into the rest of the hatch with blank eyes. Just out of sight was the tip of a gun, as if Ana Lucia was secretly keeping Gale in check.

He almost approved of this test, if it wasn't so risky. He watched the kids as they passed the armory door. Harry did a double-take, but then he was past the door. Did he recognize Gale? As they centered around the hatch table, Sayid heard the armory door slam shut, and Ana Lucia slid down the passage to the computer room, where Locke probably was.

"Who was that man back there?" asked Harry, looking from one member of the group to the other.

"What man?" asked Jack.

"In that small room, over there."

"Why? Does he seem familiar?" questioned Sayid.

"No," said Harry. "If he did, I wouldn't have asked."

Between the four of them, Jack, Kate, Charlie, and Sayid explained about the Others, hoping some recognition would spark in their prisoners' eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't really work.

Ana Lucia reappeared, bringing some food for the kids. After the introductions, she kept on eye on them while the others discussed what to do with them. When they all agreed, they came back to the table. The kids looked up at them expectantly.

"We can't let you out of our sight, but the only secure place we have is being used," Jack explained, "so we've come up with a system that should be more agreeable to you and to us. Each of you will be paired up with two of us. You have to be with one or the other at all times, but this will give you some freedom of movement."

"Kate and I will go find some volunteers," offered Charlie. He and Kate left.

"Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," said Ginny. "Are we supposed to agree or something?" she asked with a grin.

"Something like that," said Jack. "You probably won't have much interaction during the day, but we'll let you stay in the hatch during the night. Hermione and Ginny can have the bunk bed, but Harry and Ron will have to find a spot on the floor."

"Like you said, not much of a choice," grumbled Ron, who still wasn't full after the offering of crackers and peanut butter.


	3. Island Afternoon: A Day in the Life of

Ginny liked her "lost" partners. Unfortunately, they seemed to be having problems.

Around lunch time, Charlie introduced her to Claire, who accepted her coldly. Ginny wondered why she had volunteered if she had to take care of a her month-old baby, Aaron, at the same time. Charlie and Claire had worked out a schedule: she would be with Charlie in the morning, Claire in the afternoon, but they would have dinner together. So Charlie had left.

Claire instantly warmed up. "Hi, sorry about that. We're not too happy with Charlie right now," she explained in her Australian accent as she took Aaron out of his make-shift cradle.

"'We' as in 'you and Aaron'?" Ginny asked.

"No, 'we' as in the entire group." But she wouldn't say any more on the subject. "Isn't that robe hot?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, but strangely, she felt as if it gave her some sort of protection in this strange place. It also had a pocket for her wand. She wasn't about to use magic in front of Muggles, but she wasn't about to go without a wand either.

"Would you like to change your clothes?" asked Claire. "I'm sure we can find something in the suitcases." She put Aaron in a sling type thing and led her to the pile of suitcases. She watched as Ginny found several outfits that would fit her, but none of them had pockets big enough to hide her wand. As Ginny ducked behind some large-leafed plants to change, she fashioned a necklace type thing out of some cords from a pair of pants and tucked her wand down her shirt. It wasn't the best place, but it would have to do.

They went back to Claire's shelter and were playing Go Fish when Aaron started to cry. Claire began rummaging around for something.

Ginny felt slightly helpless, having had no younger siblings to train her in the way of babies. "Can I help?" she asked, holding her hands out for the baby. Mothers liked to pass their babies around for others to hold, she vaguely remembered.

"No!" cried Claire, stepping back and holding Aaron close to her. Ginny felt like she'd been slapped. They had been getting on so well for a prisoner and her captor. "Sorry, no," said Claire, a little more calmly. "I don't really trust him with strangers." The boundary between them sprang up: Ginny was once more a suspected Other. If only they could tell these people what they really were…

* * *

Harry was not in any better position. His "lost" partners were Jack and Kate. They also found him a change of clothes. He kept his wand in his back pocket, and used his shirt to cover it. Jack and Kate created a schedule fairly similar to Charlie and Claire's, where Jack had Harry one day, and Kate the next, but they could switch off at any point if they needed to. Harry wondered why they had agreed to be partners if they barely talked to each other.

Kate was probably just as secretive about her past as he was about his. Any questions he asked she expertly deflected, somehow turning every conversation back on himself. He finally gave up.

"So what do you guys do around here?"

Kate laughed. "Nothing really. We wander off into the jungle now and then, but that's about it."

Harry couldn't get the image of the Death Eaters out of his head. "Has there been anything strange on this island? Mist, things tearing up trees, glowing green skulls in the sky…?" He tried to make that last part sound casual.

"Where do you get this stuff?"

"Just, giving examples," he grimaced.

"Mist isn't really weird, though."

"It is in the middle of a jungle."

"That's true," she agreed. "Actually, we do have something tearing up the trees, eating people, stuff like that…"

"Eating people?" That didn't sound like a giant.

She laughed. "We also have polar bears. Is that weird enough for you?"

* * *

At least Hermione was being entertained. That's what she had to keep telling herself anyway. Her "lost" partners were Sayid and a Southern American guy named Sawyer. Neither looked happy with their situation. Sayid had to get back to the hatch, but Sawyer had agreed to keep her for the rest of the day anyway. She found clothes in Sawyer's stash. Since it was so hot, she hid her wand in plain sight by finding another stick about the same size and using them like chopsticks for her hair.

Staying with Sawyer basically meant sitting next to his shelter, and listening him talk to anyone that passed by that was worth making fun of. Hermione looked down the beach to try and find the others. Harry was sitting with Kate, while Ginny was walking around with a blonde mother, but she couldn't see Ron anywhere.

_Ron_ didn't just sit there with his shirt off. _Ron_ didn't keep calling her "Sunshine." Ron was a bit of a jerk sometimes though. That kind of fit.

"So, 'Sunshine,'" Sawyer began. "You need any help getting him?"

"Excuse me?" asked Hermione scathingly.

Sawyer grinned. "You've been looking for that red-haired guy for two hours. Or maybe you're just enjoying the scenery."

"I've never been to a tropical island before," she protested, and turned her head away before he saw the blush she couldn't stop.

"Are you sure you don't want someone more -"

"No, thank you," she snapped before he could finish his sentence.

"Take it easy, 'Sunshine.' I was just asking." He settled back in his chair, and started reading a book.

Hermione tried to stay awake by testing herself on different spells. A few hours later, Ginny and the blonde woman came over. "Sawyer, would you mind reading for Aaron?" the woman asked, shifting her crying baby to her other hip.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," said Sawyer, concern creeping into his voice. He moved his chair over. "You have a preference?" He still had a bit of a glare in his gaze, but it was a little softer when he looked at the baby. Hermione couldn't believe it.

She sidled over to Ginny, who was staring at Sawyer in shock. "Wow," was all she could say. "Wow."

"He's not that impressive," Hermione grumbled. Sawyer started reading for the baby, who immediately stopped crying. She took advantage of their captors' preoccupation to switch topics. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "These people have been here for two months. There's no way we can get back."

"Could we use -" Ginny twiddled her fingers to indicate magic.

"No! The Ministry would murder us."

"Well, Voldemort's going to murder everyone else if we don't get back there soon. Besides, we'd be rescuing these Muggles at the same time. Do you know how many people have died on this island? There was the pilot, a federal marshal, this guy named Steve, a brother and sister -"

"Wait, it's Scott," Hermione corrected. "Steve's out gathering mangoes."

"Whatever. The point is: I don't think the Ministry will care that we used magic if we saved forty-some people in the process."

Hermione sighed. "We'll have to vote on it. Tonight, back at the hatch."

Ginny sighed too. "There's not even any Quidditch," she complained, as if that made their whole situation worse.

* * *

Ron could have gone for a game of Quidditch right about now. But no, he couldn't. Why? Because he had to fish.

Ron's "lost" partners were this really big guy named Hurley, and a Korean named Jin, who spoke very little English. They decided that Ron needed to learn how to fish while he was on the island, so after he found a change of clothes…Ron was fishing.

"Dude, you gotta stab it," Hurley repeated. He shook his pointy stick, as if that made a difference. Jin was hauling in another net filled with fish.

"Why are we bothering? That guy's already got a ton of fish." Jin must have heard him, because he began gesturing and rapidly speaking Korean.

"Well, there's a ton of people. Oh! There's one! Stab it!"

Ron trudged wetly to the hatch five hours later, without any fish. The others were all gathered around the table again. Hermione brought out a towel, but didn't look at him when she handed it over.

"How was your day?" asked Ginny wickedly.

"Do you need any dinner?" asked Locke, who apparently lived in the hatch.

"No, we ate at the beach," said Harry.

"Speak for yourself," Ron objected. Locke nodded and brought him some food. "Does it have fish in it?" he asked. Locke smiled creepily and went back into his little room. As he ate, the others started arguing. Ginny wanted to use their magic to signal passing boats or the like, but Harry and Hermione wouldn't hear it.

"Maybe we could summon some broomsticks," suggested Ron.

"I don't think that will work," said Hermione.

"But you said it didn't matter how far away you were, as long as you really concentrated," Harry pushed.

"I don't think it applies when you're half-way around the world," Hermione said sadly.

"Well, Sirius always sent me tropical birds, maybe one here can carry a message to the Order…"

"Those were trained, I'm sure. So you'd have to train one to carry it for you, which might take years, and then wait several months for it to reach London."

"We could become Animagi," suggested Ron.

"Again, it would take several years."

"Well, I don't see you making any suggestions," snapped Ron.

"That's because I can't think of any decent ones," Hermione shot back.

"What about we summon a ship or a plane?" asked Ginny. "That way we don't leave these people behind."

"The other wizards!" cried Harry. "Hermione, you said there were two wizards on board that plane!"

"The chances of them surviving…" Hermione trailed off.

"But they might be here. We need to search around. Do you think they'd recognize me?"

"Harry, the whole wizarding _world_ recognizes you."


	4. Troubling Thoughts, part 1

Charlie struggled to lift the log onto its supports. Eko was already setting up the next supports for the northern wall. He was falling behind. "A little help," he called to Ginny, who was watching the waves. She had adopted Hermione's chopstick look.

She hurried over and helped him push the log into place. "Thanks," said Charlie, wiping his hands. They moved over to the next log. "By the way, what's a Muggle?"

Ginny just shrugged. "Slang. For Americans."

"I've never heard it before." Ginny just shrugged again.

"So, how did you guys end up here?"

Ginny shook her head as they carried the log to the church-in-progress. "I can't tell you."

"You mean you won't tell us. Come on, it can't be that bad. Take me for example. I was a drug addict. Heroin. But I've been clean for the last couple of weeks. Now it's your turn."

"Is that why everyone hates you?" Ginny asked, ignoring the question.

"That and I tried to baptize Aaron without Claire's permission." Eko glanced up at Charlie, but did not elaborate.

"How does that work?" asked Ginny. "Couldn't she just get it reversed or something?"

"Regardless," said Charlie. "I've just told you my biggest secret in the world…" he motioned for her to pick up the conversation.

Ginny opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, then closed it with another shake of her head. "I can't. I'm sorry. It's illegal."

"Heroin's illegal -" Charlie protested.

"No, not our actions! Telling you about them!" Ginny's voice rose. "It's illegal to tell you about…us!"

"How can it be illegal?" All thoughts of building the church were forgotten. "You mean the Others have an actual law forbidding you to tell their secrets?"

"No, not the Others, I don't know any Others, it's our government at home, it -" she sighed. "Never mind."

"Is it classified government information?" asked Eko.

Ginny looked reluctant to agree. "You could say that."

"Then we must not press her any further, Charlie," Eko ordered him, and seemed to push the conversation out of his mind. Charlie couldn't let it go. There was no way four kids had any direct connection to the government. They had to figure out what the truth was before the entire group was put in danger.

* * *

"So what's the point of this game exactly?" asked Claire. She absent-mindedly rocked Aaron's cradle as she tried to think.

"It's backgammon," said Hurley. "You try to get all of your pieces off the board. Like this." He scrambled some black and white pieces around, but Claire couldn't tell what it was he had done. He winced at the blank look on her face.

"Sorry, but now that Walt's gone, I don't have anybody to play with. You're the only person who agreed to let me teach them."

"What about John?" she asked. "He taught Walt."

"Yeah, but – that guy's creepy, man."

"Creepy?"

"Yeah, haven't you noticed?" Hurley scanned the beach, and saw Kate walking by. "Hey, Kate!"

She stopped. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Locke's creepy?"

Kate took a few steps closer so she could see what they were playing. Then she nodded. "Yeah, he's a little creepy," she said, staring at the board.

"Thank you!" cried Hurley.

"Are you playing backgammon?" asked Kate doubtfully.

"You play?" Hurley asked quickly. "No offense, dude," he said to Claire.

When Kate looked over, Claire explained, "I don't really understand how to play. Hurley's trying to teach me."

Kate leaned over the board. "It's really simple," she said. "You just have to…" she started moving the pieces across the board.

"Oh!" exclaimed Claire. "Hey, thanks! Ready to play?" she asked Hurley.

Hurley looked on in confusion. "That's what I did!" he protested as Kate walked away. Claire grinned and began resetting the board.

* * *

Sawyer leaned back in his shelter's seat with a smile. Sayid was pressing Hermione for information, but wasn't getting anywhere. It was amusing him immensely, and he followed their conversation as if he were at a tennis match.

"You cannot just _appear_ in the middle of the jungle. You must have gotten there somehow," demanded Interrogator Ali.

"Well I don't know how," insisted Innocent Sunshine.

"What is your alibi? We can find whatever brought you here to confirm your story. But you have to give it to us in the first place."

"You won't find anything."

"Then you confess."

"We're not Others!" she protested.

Sayid paused for a few moments. "Hermione, you need to understand something," he said gently. "I am a trained interrogator. And I will torture you for your information if I must."

Her face blanched. "That's not accurate! People will say anything just to make the pain stop!"

"Nevertheless, I will do what is necessary to determine the truth."

Sawyer looked back to Hermione. She was still pale, but her face was bright red. In fact…

"Did you get burned, Sunshine?"

She touched her face gingerly. "A little."

"I probably have some sunscreen in this bag," he said, swinging one onto his lap. She scooted over, muttering her thanks, and reached for it. He swung it out of her reach. "Hey, no one gets anything for free, Sunshine."

She bit her lip, and then reached for it again. "Just give her the sunscreen," said Sayid.

"When she's paid," he agreed. He watched Hermione reach for the duffel bag again. Some strands of hair fell out of her chopstick hair-do. "Now," he said, pretending to think very hard, "What's Sunshine going to offer me for this sunscreen?" He grinned at Hermione, who calmly slipped her fallen strands back in place. He felt a tug on the bag, and it flew through the air to land in Hermione's lap.

"What the -" cursed Sawyer, leaping up. Sayid was watching Hermione intently as she rummaged through the bag.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"There's not even any sunscreen in here!" she exclaimed. He grabbed her arm, and she finally looked up at him.

"What did you do?" he repeated, glaring down at her.

She shook her arm out of his grasp. "Nothing. You must not have had a good hold on the bag in the first place. You were swinging it all over the place." She continued her search. Sawyer cursed again, and kicked his chair.

"Disappointed about something?" Sayid observed neutrally.

"That bag just flew out of my hand!" he barked. He watched Hermione shuffle through the bag. Then she stopped. Her eyes grew wide. She pulled out a small silver sphere. "Hey, give that back!" he growled, and yanked the duffel bag away from her.

"What is that?" asked Sayid.

"How the hll should I know?" Sawyer shouted.

"Where did you find it?" asked Hermione. She sounded slightly awed.

"Down by the beach. Why?" It was just a stupid sphere, but she wouldn't take her eyes off the thing. She just kept turning it over and over in her hands.

"Give me that!" he snapped, and snatched it out of her hands. He stuffed it into the bag quickly, in case _that _tried to fly away too.

"No!" cried Hermione. "I need that!"

"Yeah, well you're not gettin' it!" And he shoved the duffel into the back of his shelter.


	5. Troubling Thoughts, part 2

Jack was introducing Harry to the rest of the group. He had seemed very interested in meeting everyone, and Jack didn't see why not, aside from the fact that he might or might not be an Other that would try to destroy them all…

So Harry tagged along with him on his rounds. Just a routine check, make sure everybody was healthy, drinking enough water. He purposefully spent more time with Aaron than he needed to, so that Harry would have a chance to talk with Ginny, and he might have a chance to eavesdrop on their conversation. This wasn't very profitable however, since they were talking about people he'd never heard of before. What kind of parent was mean enough to name their kid "haggard" anyway?

They were just leaving Claire's for Rose and Bernard's when Steve and his girlfriend ran up. "Hey Jack," said Steve. "We just wanted to say 'hi.' Heard you were checking up on everybody. Actually, I had this idea…" He started discussing his plans for building permanent shelters.

Jack just nodded and said "yeah" a couple of times, but really, why did everybody have to get clearance through him before they started a project? It was flattering, but also kind of annoying. He kept glancing over at Harry, who was telling the girlfriend the current events of the last two months.

Jack did a double take. The girlfriend was staring at Harry like he was a ship come to rescue them, or a helicopter. And Harry looked slightly uncomfortable, but with a resigned air as if he was used to this sort of treatment.

"Well, thanks Jack," finished Steve. He clapped Jack on the shoulder. "I'm going to get started on that right away." He leaned across the circle to shake Harry's hand.

"It was nice to meet you, Harry Potter," he said. Jack just had time to realize that he had never introduced Harry to Steve, let alone told Steve Harry's full name, when Harry suddenly convulsed.

Harry doubled over on the sand, screaming and holding his forehead. Jack knelt down and tried to talk over Harry's shouts. "Harry, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

"I barely touched him," Steve said in a low voice. Heads turned on the beach; some ran over to see what was going on.

"Oh my God!" cried someone, "Is he having a seizure?"

"Harry!" someone screamed. Ginny ran up and landed on Harry's other side.

"What's happening?" asked Jack. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she assured him, but he could see the doubt in her eyes. "It'll pass soon enough." Steve's girlfriend muttered something Jack couldn't hear, but Ginny snapped, "He is _not_ doing it for attention!"

Harry suddenly collapsed on the sand. Ginny bent over him. "Harry? Can you hear me?" She lifted him into a sitting position. He held his hand to his head as if he had a major headache.

"Somebody get some water," Jack ordered the spectators. Some were wandering away now that the show was over.

He looked back at Harry, who was telling Ginny, "No, he was just mad that I got away. He was punishing Avery and Lestrange. They had managed to avoid him until now. I'm fine, really."

"Who?" asked Jack. "Who's mad that you got away?" Harry stared up at him. But he just shook his head.

* * *

Locke watched the timer as it moved ever closer to zero. Twenty minutes to go…

"Hey," said Ana Lucia from the computer room doorway. Locke slipped his doodles of the blast door under the table. "You need anything?"

He looked at the computer for a second before answering. "No. No, I don't, I…How's our…How's our friend doing in there?" he asked, pointing to the armory.

"Pretty quiet," she shrugged, leaning into the room. "He's cooperating, but -" She gave him a meaningful look. "I think he's planning something."

Locke pretended to rearrange the items on the desk. "It would be suspicious if he wasn't."

"Yeah, but something doesn't feel right about it." She began to circle the room. "What if he gets those Others to bust him out?"

"We'll know about it before they do," he assured her. "Do you really think they're Others?"

"Do you?"

He finally looked her in the eye. "I don't know. Sometimes I think they are, sometimes I don't."

She shook her head. "All I know is, everyone is treating them like they're long lost best friends. Those kids aren't threatening enough, no one suspects them – they'd be the perfect ones to infiltrate us." She seemed to have an argument with herself before declaring, "You don't _have_ to have weapons to do damage."

She looked to Locke to agree with her, but he didn't add anything. She turned on her heel and walked out.

He glanced up at the timer. Fifteen minutes…


	6. Interlude: The Turning Point

Ron was miserable. Ron was always miserable, but this time, he really meant it. First fishing, and now gardening. Could life get any worse?

He glared up at his captors. Sun and Jin were cooing like two Korean turtle doves. He couldn't understand a word they said. Then again, did he _want_ to understand a word they said? At least Sun spoke fluent English when she wanted to. Like now.

"Oh, Ron!" she called from across the garden. She scrambled up and hurried over. "You're pulling the wrong ones," she said kindly, showing him the difference between the plant he was rooting out and the weed he was leaving in.

"Oh, sorry," he said, and rubbed his nose. Stuck on a tropical island, and he was stuck in Herbology class while everyone else got to relax on the beach. He started again. Sun watched him long enough to make sure he was doing it right, then went back to her side of the garden.

"_Where's Hurley_?" she asked Jin in Korean.

"_With Libby. Are you sure you're all right? Do you need to rest for a little while?_"

Sun smiled, "_Yes, I'm fine. You shouldn't worry so much._" She threw some dirt at him, which he tossed back at her.

Why was it so _hot_! Ron had to keep stopping to wipe the sweat out of his eyes, which just smeared dirt across his face. He hoped it would rain soon, to wash it all off.

He sat up and used his shirt to get the worst of it off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark shadow swoop between the trees. He twisted around to see it, but there were only waving ferns and palm trees.

He went back to his shirt, and saw the shadow swoop across his vision several feet in front of him. He looked up quickly, and saw a cloaked figure backing away into the trees. From the way it moved, he could have sworn it was floating.

He jumped up and started to run after it, dimly aware of Sun calling his name. "Ron!" she called. "No!" She and Jin chased after him.

"_We can't lose him!_" Jin said, and pulled ahead.

Ron thought he was keeping up with the shadow, but it kept getting farther and farther ahead.

Ron pulled his wand out just in case and pushed himself faster. He started to close the gap and –

Suddenly, he was tackled from behind, and he crashed into the ground at the edge of a clearing. The wind was knocked out of him, and he watched the shadow disappear from view.

He struggled to get up, but Jin kept a tight grip on his arm to keep him from running again. "Other!" he accused. Sun appeared shortly after, a little out of breath. "Other!" Jin repeated, "_He was trying to rejoin his people!_"

"Ron, what were you doing?" Sun asked, looking hurt as if Ron had betrayed her.

"There was a -" he began, pointing after the shadow with his free wand arm.

"What is that?" she asked, staring at his wand.

Ron was about to say "It's nothing," when a rumbling sound filled the air. He changed it to "That wasn't thunder," and glanced around to try to find the source. Across the clearing, from a little to the right of the direction the shadow had gone, the distant plants were waving back and forth as if something were rushing through them.

Ron held his wand out, trying to think of a happy thought, in case the dementor (since that was probably what the shadow thing was) was coming –

A large flash of white erupted from the plants, and Ron had just enough warning to roar "_Stupefy!_" A jet of red light shot toward the polar bear, and the bear crumpled, its momentum carrying it to within a few feet of Ron, who hurriedly backed away.

He stared at the bear, trying to calm his racing heart, then checked Jin and Sun. "Are you guys okay?" he asked, but their eyes were darting between him, his wand, and the bear.

"Uh oh."


	7. Magic and Mayhem

A/N: Thanks to my brother Chris for helping me with "Sawyer-speech"!

* * *

Harry entered the hatch with Kate to find a very confusing scene. His friends were nervously sitting at the table, no doubt because all of their "lost" partners were watching them silently. Several of the survivors stared at him as he sat next to Ron, who looked particularly uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" he asked, but Ron didn't answer.

Jack came forward, flanked by Sayid and Ana Lucia. "We need answers. Your friend just knocked a bear unconscious with _this_-" he pulled out Ron's wand so they could see "-and we want to know how. Right now."

"Nice going, Ron!" cried Ginny just as Hermione said, "Ron, you didn't!"

Ron's ears reddened. "It was a bloody polar bear! What was I supposed to do, let it attack me!"

"That polar bear's going to wake up at some point," Harry warned Jack, who looked surprised at the way their conversation was going.

"Not anymore," Ana Lucia said. Harry had a brief image of the crazy Muggle lady shooting the bear with her rifle.

"What if the Ministry expels you?" asked Hermione.

"It doesn't really matter on this island, does it?" sniped Ron.

"What Ministry?" asked Sayid.

"It's slang?" Ginny suggested.

"Could you excuse us for a minute?" Harry asked the Muggles. Before they could refuse, he turned to his friends.

"Listen, this is perfect!" he whispered. "The Statute doesn't apply in self-defense, and now that they've already seen some of it, there's no harm in telling them more."

"No harm?" cried Hermione in a low voice. "If you tell them anything, that goes so far beyond self-defense…" she stopped in the face of all that implied.

"If we don't tell them, they'll lock us up with that other guy, and we'll never get home! This way, they'll stop asking us if we're Others and stop following us around and we can finally get something done, like figure out how to get off this island."

"Besides, look at the plus side," added Ginny. "If the Ministry sends someone or an owl, they'll know where we are, and then we can leave faster."

"Ron?"

Ron thought for a second. "I say go for it. If they attack us, we can use our 'self-defense' to escape."

Hermione saw that she was outnumbered. "Fine," she said haughtily, "But you need to keep your promises," she told Harry pointedly to remind him that the Muggles were on a need to know basis, and they didn't need to know about the prophecy or horcruxes.

As one, they turned back to the waiting adults, who were starting to lose their patience. "Well?" asked Jack.

"We're wizards," said Harry. Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't that. Disbelief and surprise spread across every face. "We can do magic," he told them. "Let me demonstrate." He pulled out his wand.

The Muggles backed away. Harry pointed it away from them, toward one of the bookshelves, and swish-and-flicked a few books into the air, which transfixed the survivors.

Ginny and Hermione pulled out their own wands to perform various charms and transfigurations as Harry explained about magic at the most basic level and the Statute of Secrecy that prevented them from telling them earlier, as well as how they got to the island in the first place.

Hermione summoned Ron's wand out of Jack's hand. Sawyer recognized that trick. "So that's how you got the bag," he accused. "No -" She silenced him with a wave of her wand, which caused several of the Muggles to laugh as he opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, but it was too late.

"'Ron, you didn't!'" Ron mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "You hypocrite, you used magic too!"

"I was more subtle about it than you were," she protested, her face reddening.

"That's no excuse," declared Ron, building momentum. "You're just as guilty of breaking the Statue as I am, but you tried to load it all off on me!" Harry and Ginny lowered their wands, and the objects wheeling around the room fell to the floor unnoticed.

"I had to, it was important-"

"Don't break the rules," Ron talked over her, "Don't break the laws, but that doesn't apply to me, I'm Miss Perfect, Miss Know-It-All-" Hermione ran out of the hatch, but he raised his voice so she could still hear him. "Well don't come crying to me when the Ministry expels you!"

The silence in the hatch was very heavy, but Ron didn't seem to notice. "Can you believe her?" he asked Harry and Ginny.

* * *

Hermione pulled Harry's invisibility cloak closer to make sure it would cover her. It would get sand in it, but she couldn't help that. She checked up and down the beach. Everyone was asleep. Good.

She lifted the tarp entrance to Sawyer's shelter. He was asleep too. Even better.

She raised her wand, pointed it at a certain duffel bag in the back of the shelter, and thought _Accio!_

The bag flew toward her, but before it had traveled halfway, Sawyer's hand shot up and grabbed the strap. Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake, and she tried to Summon the bag again.

"Not so fast, Sunshine," he growled, and kept a tight hold on the bag.

With a wave of her wand, she unzipped it and Summoned the sphere instead. She caught it, turned, and ran. "Hey!" he yelled, and he started to chase her, which wasn't hard to do in the sand. He still had the duffel.

He threw it at Hermione, and she was knocked over. The sphere rolled down the beach toward the water. "No!" she cried, but Sawyer got there first.

"What is this thing, anyway?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "More importantly…why do you want it so bad?"

Hermione scrambled up, but the cloak, already half off, was no longer worth the effort. She let it slip to the ground. "I need it," she said vaguely. "Give it to me."

"Uh uh," he said with a shake of his head, "You want this Sunshine?" He held the sphere out to her tauntingly. "You're going to have to come here and get it."

She raised her wand again, but he cut her off. "You try one of your little magic tricks, this thing is gone," he warned her, and gestured that he would throw it out to sea.

Hermione glared, but reluctantly pocketed her wand. "Knew you didn't it have it in you," he said with a laugh.

She lunged for the sphere, but rammed into Sawyer instead. They fell into a crashing wave, and Hermione heard the worst sound she could imagine: shattering glass.

"No!" she cried, and tried to find the smashed Prophecy. There!

A ghostly image of an old man rose out of the receding water.

"What the hll is that thing?" asked Sawyer, but he shut up when the image began to talk.

"_Between the -_" a wave crashed over the image, and his voice was lost.

"No!" Hermione cried again. She would never hear the whole thing!

"You wanna tell me what's goin' on?" Sawyer asked, but the image reappeared as the water retreated.

" – _lies rescue,_" the man continued. "_A fatal game awaits the curious, and its treachery _-"

After the next wave, " _– new comer brings death, another life. But beware_ –"

After the next wave, "_ – the stars align. And He will lead them to victor –_"

After the next wave, " _– trust in the land, for it will guide them into –_ "

After the next wave, " _– ber your hold on reality. Poisonous snakes _– "

After the next wave, it was gone.

Hermione and Sawyer watched the spot for several more waves. "Can we replay that?" he asked her, already knowing the answer.

She shook her head and reached for the broken pieces. They would never hear the entire thing, no one would. Never. She couldn't break the shock.

"So what was it?" he repeated.

"A Prophecy," she said. "It…predicts the future."

"And you needed it because…"

"I…I thought it had something to do with Harry. I guess not." She used her wand to throw the glass pieces farther out into the ocean so no one could find them. "Should we tell the others what we heard?" she asked herself out loud, suddenly uncertain.

"For a price," agreed Sawyer with a grin. "Much good it will do 'em. But as long as they pay a price, Sunshine, that's all that matters."


	8. Wins and Losses

A/N: According to my brother, Jack is not smart enough to figure things out, so Mr. Eko replaced him in the second scene. Enjoy!

* * *

"I'll play winner," Kate offered as she walked up to Claire's shelter. Claire and Hurley were playing backgammon again.

"Get in line," Harry told her. "I called the next game already." He was watching the board intently. She wondered vaguely if they had wizard backgammon.

"And I'm playing after that," Ginny informed her. She was playing with Aaron. No, she was doing _magic _for Aaron. Kate stared in amazement as various twigs swirled in the air over the crib like some makeshift mobile.

"Maybe we should start a tournament!" Claire joked. "If this many people are interested…"

"I think you're cheating," accused Hurley. She turned back to him, and was taken aback to see Hurley's normally cheery face clouded in frustration.

"Why do you say that?" She sat down on the other side of the board to watch.

"Because," he protested. "I've been playing for years. Claire only started playing yesterday, and she beat me! You must have done something to make her win, which means you're cheating!"

Kate couldn't help laughing. "Hurley, that's ridiculous. Didn't Walt beat you too? Maybe you're just slipping."

"I'm not slipping," he mumbled, and rolled the dice. "Ha!" he cried, and moved his last piece off the board. "Finally!"

"Good job," said Claire.

Aaron started to cry. Claire scrambled over, saying quickly, "Don't worry, sweetheart, Mommy's coming." She picked him up and rocked him, making a soothing shushing sound.

"I didn't do anything!" Ginny cried with alarm.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it, he's probably just hungry…"

Kate looked down the beach as Harry set up the board. Her eyebrows shot up. "Are your friends okay?" she asked Harry.

He glanced up and followed her gaze. She was watching Ron and Hermione, who were standing ten feet apart and yelling at each other, but they were too far away to hear what they were saying. And they were beginning to draw a crowd.

"Yeah, they do that a lot," Harry said. She watched as Ron stormed off into the jungle. Hermione crossed her arms and stalked off in the opposite direction.

"Looks like Ron 1, Hermione 2," said Sawyer.

"What was Hermione's first point?" asked Kate with a grin, sensing a good joke.

But Sawyer merely returned her smile. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it Freckles?"

She exchanged glances with Hurley as Harry asked Ginny, "Who do you want to follow?"

Ginny sighed. "I'll get Ron in a bit. Give him some time to cool off."

"All right. See you later." He got up and followed Hermione down the beach.

"Dude, you've got a system?" asked Hurley in awe.

* * *

Eko watched indifferently as Steve constructed what he considered a more permanent shelter. The supports were all wrong; there was no way those sticks were going to stand for more than a few minutes.

"Maybe your magic can help you with those supports," Eko said casually.

"Not really," said Steve in a distracted voice. Then he jumped about a foot in the air and spun around guiltily. "I mean, I'm sure that those kids wouldn't be interested in…" but his voice trailed off at the look on Eko's face.

"You are a wizard then." It wasn't a question.

"Sort of," Steve said reluctantly. "But don't ask me for help, my wand broke in the crash."

"The children did not use their wands to get here."

"No, they Apparated – disappeared from one place and appearing in another," he added for Eko's benefit. "I already tried it, you can't Apparate off this island." He picked up another log and leaned it against the others, then looked up at Eko. "How did you figure it out?"

Eko hesitated, then confessed, "Jack told me about what happened between you and Harry. He said you knew his name, even though he had never told you. Harry is famous in the wizarding world. I put two and two together."

Steve shook his head in amazement. "Well, I'm glad you're on our side."

* * *

Ginny stepped into the jungle. "Ron?" she called cautiously. Only the birds answered her.

She walked further in. He'd disappeared somewhere around here, and he couldn't have gotten far. She looked up. Past the broad green leaves she could see the beginnings of a rain storm. Hopefully this wouldn't take long.

"Ron?" she called again. She moved deeper into the jungle.

Now was as good a time as any to practice her nonverbal spells. As the sky darkened, she tried to call light to her wand tip without saying anything.

Several tries later, she thought that her wand might be a bit lighter, when she sensed someone to her left. She whirled, holding her wand out to attack –

Ron.

A very angry Ron.

"You mind making a little noise before you sneak up on someone?" she snapped, still scared that it had been a dementor, or an Other, or that creepy "French chick."

"Where does she get off?" he growled. "Where does she get off ordering me around?"

Ginny really didn't want to deal with this. "Come on, we need to get back to the beach, it's going to rain."

"No way! I'm not going anywhere near her!" Ron walked deeper into the jungle. The promised rain poured down.

She rolled her eyes and walked behind him. "Now you're just being stupid. You're drenched, and there isn't exactly a lot of medicine on this island."

"Stop following me!" he shouted. He muttered something to himself, but she could hear Harry's name.

"Excuse me?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

Ron turned around to face her. "I said, Harry must get fed up with you following him around everywhere, you're the neediest person I've ever met!"

Her wand was in his face so fast he didn't have time to blink. "You take that back," Ginny warned him over the falling rain.

"In fact," he continued unperturbed, "I'll bet all of your boyfriends have the same complaint. You were always with them, never gave them enough room to breathe by the looks of it."

"You filthy hypocrite," she hissed. "The only thing Lavender ever breathed was your face! I hope Hermione _does_ reject you, she'd suffocate otherwise!"

Ron raised his own wand, but Ginny knocked it out of his hand with an "_Expelliarmus_," and it disappeared into the jungle.

"I don't need my wand to fight you," Ron declared and held up his fists. Then his eyes widened.

Darkness covered her eyes as a bag was pulled over her head. She was yanked backwards.

"GET OFF ME!" Ron bellowed in the distance.

Ginny screamed and tried to twist out of her captor's grip. "_Stupefy_!" she shouted, wand over her shoulder, and heard a loud squelch as her captor landed in the mud. She rolled up and pointed her wand wildly.

"Grab the wand!" a man ordered.

"_Stupefy!_" she shouted again. "_Stupefy! Stupefy!"_ She tried to pull the bag off of her head with one hand, and kept casting stunning spells with the other. She heard lots of shouts and yells from all around her.

Someone pushed her from behind, and she fell to her knees, just as she yanked the bag off. She looked around frantically, but she was alone.

"Ron!" she screamed. "RON!"


	9. Questions and Transitions

A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little slow, but it's got some important transitions (hence the title!).

* * *

"What do you think?" Locke asked Jack. They both looked at the table. Ginny was shivering under several layers of blankets, and sitting between Harry and a red-eyed Hermione.

"Why didn't they take her?" asked Jack.

Locke just shrugged. "Probably scared of her magic."

"But they said 'Grab the wand.' They must have known they were wizards."

"Maybe," Locke suggested after some thought, "they needed to move quickly, and didn't have a lot of people. They didn't want to leave anybody behind for us to capture, so when she hit a few of them, they needed to retreat while they still had enough people to carry the wounded."

"Maybe," said Jack, but he doubted it. "But now that's two of our people that they have."

"Our people?" asked Locke. "I must have missed something, Jack, because when did _they_ become _our _people?"

"When they _landed_ here, John," he told him, somewhat annoyed by his attitude.

Harry came over. "I'm going after them," he said. "I need to get Ron back."

"You can't go into the jungle by yourself," Jack protested. "It's too dangerous."

"I can take care of myself," Harry assured them.

"No one goes out into the jungle alone," Locke agreed.

"Then send someone with me, but I'm leaving as soon as I get some supplies together." Harry left the hatch.

Locke stared after him. "He thinks that wand of his can solve every problem." Then he looked at Jack. "Wonder what happens when it doesn't work?"

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" Kate asked. Harry was stuffing as many water bottles as he could into a backpack.

"He's my best friend," Harry explained.

"Why aren't your other friends coming?" He ignored her. "You told them not to come didn't you?" He started for the tree-line, but she cut him off.

"How are you going to follow them?"

"I'll figure it out," he said, and tried to get around her, but she wouldn't let him.

"How? You can't track them now, the rain will have washed everything away. You'll be wandering in circles."

"I'll manage." He pushed past her.

She let him get a few steps away. "And what happens when they kidnap you too? Ron isn't the first person they've taken; he won't be the last. If you go out there now," she paused to let the idea sink in, "you won't be coming back."

"I can't just let them get away," Harry protested, turning around.

"Don't you understand? They're after you!" She sighed. "Famous Harry Potter. Kidnapping Ron was probably just their first step. You'll be playing right into their hands."

"Not this time," he promised, but he didn't move. She could tell he wasn't as confident anymore. She decided to hammer it home.

"There's a line out there," she told him. "We're not supposed to cross it. If we do, we start a war with the Others, and they'll take us or kill us but we will _not_ make it home." She took a step back. "So while you're off doing the heroic thing, remember that you might destroy us in the process." And she walked away.

She knew he wouldn't go now. He wouldn't risk putting them in danger. Save the majority, let the individual go.

* * *

Sawyer cursed. Again. This Prophecy was no more than a bunch of gibberish. He and Hermione were sitting under some shade, pretending to read, but really analyzing the pieces of the Prophecy that they'd heard.

"The newcomers have to be us," Hermione repeated for maybe the hundredth time.

"Yeah, what else is new?" he grumbled.

"But I still can't figure out who brings death and who brings life," she continued as if she hadn't heard him. He was proud of her though. She'd been crying her eyes out all afternoon, but she could still focus on this garbage.

"What's with the snakes?" he asked. That part was the strangest to him. He hadn't seen any snakes yet.

"_-ber your hold on reality. Poisonous snakes-_" Hermione read. "Hmmm…it's either _number_ or _remember_, I'm almost positive!"

"Maybe the Others are allergic to poisonous snakes?" he said as he scanned the beach. No Doc. He'd really hoped that Kate would have talked to him by now.

"Maybe the Others are _immune_ to poisonous snakes," she suggested. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Sayid saw them "reading" and decided to come over. This had possibilities.

"Afternoon, Ali," Sawyer greeted him. "What brings you to this side of the beach?"

"I wanted to check on Hermione," Sayid told him. "She does not seem herself." He glanced over to the girl, who was immersed in her book and muttering to herself. "As you can see," he added.

"She's working on something," Sawyer said vaguely, and pretended to go back to his book.

"Working?" asked Sayid, immediately interested. "On what?"

"Now who invited you to this little party?" asked Sawyer.

"Do you know what she is working on?" he asked, undeterred.

"Why don't you ask her yourself, she's right there," said Sawyer, waving his book at her.

Sayid considered this, then glared at Sawyer before asking, "What are you working on, Hermione?"

"Hmmm…" she thought aloud. "A puzzle…" she didn't even look up. Sayid seemed unconvinced.

"What are you hiding?" he asked bluntly.

"Why don't you just –" Sawyer told Sayid to do something very unpleasant.

Sayid walked away. Sawyer noted with pleasure that he was heading for the hatch.

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ana Lucia sighed, and tossed her magazine aside. It was only twenty years out of date.

"What's that?" asked Ginny from her blanket-nest at the table.

Ana Lucia gave her a look. "You were in here your first night, you didn't hear it then?"

Ginny just shrugged. "It was a long day." Ana Lucia motioned for the girl to follow her. They came into the computer room. She sat down in the chair, explaining about how they had to push the button every 108 minutes or something bad would happen.

"You have to type in a code," she said, and pushed the numbers as she named them. "4…8…15…16…23…"

"42."

Ana Lucia looked up sharply. "How did you know that?" Ginny appeared shocked at her new-found knowledge. "How did you know that?" she repeated.

"I…saw it somewhere, I…can't remember…" she stared at the table, her face screwed up in concentration.

Ana Lucia doubted it. She pushed the "Execute" button, just before she heard Jack's voice from the other room. She walked quietly to the door and looked out. She didn't have to turn to see that Ginny was looking over her shoulder.

"He's up to something." It was Sayid, who seemed very upset. "We have to find out what."

"Well, we're not exactly in a position to make him tell us," Jack replied. "He has almost all of the guns, remember?"

"Who has all the guns?" whispered Ginny.

"Sawyer," Ana Lucia answered in a low voice. "He stole all the guns and is hiding them somewhere." She glanced over at the girl. "Why?"

She hesitated, then said with a slow smile, "I think I can change that."


	10. Draws All Around

A/N: Thanks to RandomAvocados, Tannenbaum Bell, LillyFan78, and supernaturallylost for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

Also: one of the scenes might seem a little familiar...just...go with it, and I'll explain at the end of the story...enjoy!

* * *

"How do you have a draw in backgammon?" Claire asked a very confused Hurley.

"I – I don't know! This doesn't make any sense at all! Here, set it up again, we're going to have a rematch, right now!" He glanced over at Harry, who was watching them. "Sorry dude, but we need to settle this."

"I don't care," said Harry.

"I'm sure he's all right," Claire tried to assure him.

"Hey Harry, have you seen Ginny?" Harry turned around. Charlie was walking towards them, guitar in hand. "I wanted to ask…" his voice trailed off as Claire gave him an icy stare.

"Er – I haven't seen her," Harry replied uneasily as she went back to her game.

"Oh, all right. Thanks." Charlie trudged away.

Claire shook her head angrily. "The nerve of him! I told him to stay away."

The game was almost over when Harry told her, "Ginny said he was a drug addict."

"_Is_," she replied vehemently. "He _is _a drug addict, and I don't want him anywhere near me."

"She also said," he plowed on, "that his drugs were taken away."

"Yeah," she said slowly. "They were."

"Then wouldn't he be going through withdrawal all over again?"

Claire gave him a questioning look over the board as she rolled her dice. Then Hurley spoiled the moment by screaming "NO!" as Claire got double sixes to win the game.

* * *

Ginny grinned. She'd found all of the guns, including Sawyer's personal one, with the ever useful _Accio_, and hidden them somewhere in the jungle under Harry's very sandy invisibility cloak. Now she just had to watch the rest of the scene unfold. 

"Ginny, I've been looking all over for you," cried Charlie. "Do you want to hear my new song – what's going on?" He had noticed that Jack, Sayid, and Ana Lucia were circled around Sawyer and Hermione. She tried to explain while Jack and Sawyer argued. Then Jack pointed the remaining gun at Sawyer, who tried to laugh it off and bring out his own, then cursed when he realized it was missing.

"You have until the count of three," Jack warned him.

"You gonna shoot me over a little piece of paper?" Sawyer asked incredulously.

"One."

"Oh, that's low, even for you, Doc."

"Two."

"Better start talking," smirked Ana Lucia.

"Three – "

"Stop!" shouted Hermione, who had apparently just noticed the crowd of people.

"What good timing you have," quipped Sawyer.

"It's not worth dying over," she told him, and scanned the small crowd that had formed. She saw Ginny and they locked eyes. "We found a Prophecy." Ginny's eyes widened.

"A Prophecy?" asked Ana Lucia in disbelief.

"Not a whole one," Hermione amended. "We only heard part of it."

"And, I suppose, Prophecies in your world come true," Sayid added.

"Usually," she said apologetically.

* * *

"You think the prophecy's about us?" Ginny asked him. Harry didn't answer, but watched the tide go out. They weren't really alone, Jin was fishing a bit further down the beach, but if he closed his eyes… 

"Harry!" she cried.

"What?"

"Look!" Reluctantly, he opened his eyes. She pointed at the water. A shark fin was cresting the surface very close to shore. It circled closer, then moved farther away. Harry squinted against the bright sun. It rose further out of the water, and he could see black markings that didn't quite match the uniform gray of the rest of the shark. It almost looked like –

"The hatch!" Ginny cried. "Harry, those markings, I've seen them before in the hatch!"

"Are you sure?" The shark slipped out of sight. "It's not that close."

"They match," she affirmed.

"Which means?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." After a slight pause, she continued, "That reminds me. Have you ever seen the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42? I mean, in that sequence," she added.

"It sounds a little familiar, but no, not really. Why?" She explained about the computer.

"I swear I've seen them be…Harry! Tom Riddle!"

"What about him?" he asked.

"_He _told me the numbers! In the Chamber of Secrets! He told them to me before he knocked me out!"

"But why?" Harry was very confused. What did Voldemort have to do with this island?

"I don't know why, isn't it enough that I know?"

"Not really," he said slowly. His eyes relaxed as a cloud passed over the sun. Then goosebumps rolled up his arm as a wind blew in from the jungle. "What the -?" He turned around, and saw a tall cloaked figure swoop out from under the trees.

He whipped out his wand and yelled "_Expecto Patronum_!" A stag erupted from the wand and charged at the dementor, who backed away quickly. Two more dementors took its place, but the stag pushed them into the jungle.

"Get back to camp," he told Ginny. She didn't question him, but ran towards the others. He walked backwards, wand at the ready, eyes sweeping the line of trees. He'd only gone a couple of steps when about a dozen dementors glided out.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" he shouted, and a second stag charged them down. A silvery blur rushed past him at the dementors, and he recognized Hermione's otter Patronus as it dove into the fight.

"Thanks," he said to her as she joined him, but her Patronus quickly sputtered out. He glanced at her to see how she would take it. Her eyes were hardened, and she just conjured another one.

Back at the camp, Ginny was trying to keep the Muggles from wandering down the beach to see what was going on. Since they couldn't see the dementors, and couldn't create the only defense against them, Muggles were pretty much useless in this kind of fight.

"What's going on?" everyone asked.

"Nothing we can't handle," she assured them, "as long as you _stay here_." Sometimes she had to chase down the more adventurous of them and drag them back.

"There's so many of them," Hermione gasped after her next Patronus flickered and died.

"Why don't they all just attack at once?" Harry asked, and guided his Patronus to the left to keep the dementors from encircling them.

And then they didn't have any more energy to converse, but focused on maintaining a strong defense.

What seemed like hours later, but was really only ten minutes, Harry and Hermione returned to the camp, worn out but otherwise fine.

"Where did they come from?" Ginny asked them, but she didn't really expect an answer.


	11. Day Four

The next day (the fourth, if you're keeping track), Claire and Hurley were playing another round of backgammon. News of their strange competition had spread, and gathered a large crowd of spectators, who were starting to get into the game.

As Hurley's piece clicked into place, Claire's supporters gasped. As Claire's dice fell, cheers arose.

"Okay, this is starting to get on my nerves," Hermione grumbled to Kate, and pulled out a scrap of paper with the Prophecy scribbled on it.

Kate grinned, but just shook her head. These people had been on the island for almost two months; they needed a little bit of entertainment.

"Any bets on Claire?" asked a familiar voice. She craned her head up to see Jack, who quickly sat down next to her. "I'd put five mangos on her to win."

"I don't think people want to gamble away their mangos," she said with the utmost seriousness.

"Well then, what are they using?"

"Seashells."

"But I don't have any of those."

Kate heaved a fake sigh. "Then I guess you should have spent more of your free time collecting them."

But it didn't get the laugh out of him that she had expected. "Yeah, guess I should have," he said somberly. Cheers went up on Hurley's side as he moved the rest of his pieces off the board to win the game.

"Good game," said Claire, as she did after every game, and shook hands with Hurley. Aaron started to cry, so she rushed over to the crib. The sudden movement seemed to shake Hermione out of her reverie.

"Game?" she repeated. "No, it can't be!" Her eyes widened as she watched Hurley pack away the board.

"_A fatal game awaits the curious_!" she recited from memory to the crowd. "This is the fatal game!" She grabbed the board away from Hurley.

"Hey man, watch it!"

"It's treacherous!" she cried, but only received blank stares from the crowd as they began to disperse.

"Hermione, calm down," Harry said, and tried to pull the board out of her hand.

"_Fatal_!" she shrieked. She yanked it out of his grasp and started down the beach.

Kate and Jack exchanged looks. Hermione appeared to be on the edge of a nervous break-down.

"No rematch then?" Claire asked over Aaron's howls.

"Why's he crying?" Kate asked.

"I don't know," said Claire absent-mindedly.

"Dude," added Hurley, "he cries after every game."

"Not every game!" Claire defended.

"Well, close enough. Every time Claire loses," he informed Kate, Jack, and Harry, "Aaron starts bawling." Realizing what he'd just said, Hurley gave Aaron a suspicious look. "Every time."

"It's just a coincidence," Claire said, but she sounded uncertain herself.

* * *

Harry faced the darkening sky, the sun just about to set behind him. After deliberating with himself, he sent a Patronus out into the water. It charged the oncoming waves and raced across the water toward the horizon, casting a silver shadow on the surface. Maybe it would reach someone in the Order. Maybe it would –

Disappear.

Oh well, it had been worth a shot, despite the risk of Muggles seeing it. He turned back and scanned the treeline. What he saw made his eyes widen.

He ran up to Sayid, the first person he saw. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Sayid turned, and watched as a pillar of smoke in the distance billowed into the air. "Black smoke," he told him. "They are coming."

* * *

"Sunshine!" called Sawyer into the jungle. He cursed as he knocked some obnoxious ferns out of the way with his free arm. The other carried a torch "Hey, Sunshine, let's go! We need to take cover. The Others –" He stopped when he spotted her.

Hermione was sitting with her back to one of the trees, hugging the game board to her chest, and staring silently ahead of her with red eyes. Her wand tip was lit.

"Didn't you hear me?" he demanded of her. "Everyone needs to regroup at camp, right now!" She didn't move.

He sighed, and sat down next to her. They were silent for a few minutes. "It's not your fault Ron was taken," he told her softly.

"I know," she whispered.

"Then what are you crying for?" he asked incredulously in his normal voice.

"I don't know."

"This is ridiculous," he said, and climbed to his feet. "Fine. Just…stay out here and get eaten by polar bears or something, I'm going back." He started walking.

Hermione jumped up. "Something's wrong," she told him.

"Good." He vanished into the jungle.

She pulled out her wand. She watched the trees sway slightly in the wind. Her wand provided insubstantial light in the darkening gloom, and marked her position, so she put it out. It took a second for her eyes to adjust.

When she could somewhat see again, she saw a dark figure approaching. She screamed and hurled a stun spell at them.

Darkness.


	12. At the Others' Camp

Ron winced. His head hurt. The back of it felt caked with blood. He managed to open his eyes and look around. He was in a small, circular room with a pole in the middle…a hut? The last thing he remembered was fighting with Ginny.

There was a young girl in the hut with him. Her dark hair was blocking her face. She appeared to be scribbling furiously in a small notebook. She glanced up at him and noticed that he was awake.

"Where am I?" he asked. He leaned away as she moved closer.

"I need you to help me," she said intensely.

"Where am I?" he repeated, his ears beginning to redden. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"What is the second half of the Prophecy?" she hissed.

"What?" he asked. That was the last thing he had expected to hear.

"The Prophecy! What is the second half?" she looked quickly at the door, as if worrying that someone would surprise her.

"What Prophecy!"

Her expression changed instantly.

"You are one of the newcomers aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, confused by this new tactic. "But who are you?"

She regarded him thoughtfully. "They'll kill you. They will, unless you know the second half of the Prophecy."

It finally clicked. Voldemort didn't know the second half of the Prophecy, the part that led him to his downfall sixteen years ago. And now he'd kidnapped him, Ron, Harry's best friend, in an attempt to find out the rest. "I don't know!" he said. "It smashed, I never heard it!"

"Swear it?" she asked. The shadow on her seemed to pass. "I'm only trying to help you, you know," she told him.

He shook his head frantically, then winced in pain. "I never heard it," he repeated, slightly calmer, but still angry.

A strange look crossed her eyes. She backed away to the other side of the hut. The door opened.

Another woman stepped in. Her eyes swept the room. "Alex. Out." The dark-haired girl scrambled out of the hut.

"Now," she said, kneeling in front of him and looking him square in the eye. "What is the second half of the Prophecy?"


	13. Track Them Down!

Kate tried to make sense out of the chaos of panicked survivors. She managed to find Jack, who was trying to deal with everyone's questions. "Just head to the hatch," he told them repeatedly. "Don't try to take your things with you, just move!"

"Are they all going to fit?" she asked him.

"They'll have to. It's the only real protection we have."

Sayid silently handed her a pack of supplies to take to the hatch. He and Jack were also wearing backpacks.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked her.

"No, she hasn't come back yet?"

"Hey guys, Claire needs some help with Aaron," Charlie told them.

"Why don't you help her?" asked Ginny.

"She doesn't want me anywhere near him," Charlie reminded her.

"She can't be picky at a time like this," Sayid added.

"I'll come with you," Kate told Charlie.

"Where have you been?" Jack asked Sawyer as he approached them with a torch.

Sawyer didn't have any time to respond before a distant scream reached them. "HERMIONE!" Harry and Ginny shouted, and started running. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, and Charlie followed.

They dashed into the jungle, where it was already night. Harry lit his wand and began sweeping it in front of him.

"Wait!" Kate called, and dropped to the side. She'd seen a glint in the darkness from the meager light. She rummaged around and held up a glossy box. It was the backgammon board. "She must have dropped it."

"HERMIONE!" Harry bellowed into the oppressive darkness. Then he turned on Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. "You! This is all your fault! You wouldn't help me find Ron and now the Others have _two _of my friends!"

"Sorry, Harry," Jack began, "but –"

"No 'buts,' I'm going after them this time and don't you dare try to stop me." He gripped his wand tighter and started off further into the jungle, Ginny right behind him.

"You're going the wrong way," Kate realized. She grabbed Sawyer's torch and moved closer to the wizards. She bent down to clearly see the edges of footprints. She nodded in the direction they marked. "They went this way. And they can't be that far off." She looked up at the others. "I'm going to help them."

"Then I'm coming with you," said Jack. Sayid and Charlie agreed as well.

"We're going to need guns," said Sawyer, looking pointedly at Ginny.

She waved her wand with an "_Accio_," and soon everyone had a wand or a gun. Kate handed the torch to someone further down the line so those in the back would have light.

"Let's go, already," said Harry, and took the lead, Kate right beside him.

* * *

"Get down!" Kate hissed at the others a few hours later and knelt behind a tree root. She could hear some people ahead of her speaking in low voices.

"Is that them?" Harry asked her in a whisper.

"Yeah, I think so," she whispered back. She waved him back, and they rejoined the group.

"We should circle them," Jack suggested.

"What about lookouts?" Sayid reminded them. "They could be farther out from their people, we might miss them."

Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak. "I'll go scout it out," he said, and slipped it on. Everyone who hadn't seen the cloak before gasped inaudibly. Harry moved toward the Others, watching his every step to make sure he didn't snap anything.

They had stopped for a water break, apparently, and would be moving soon. He quickly found Hermione. She was unconscious and bound, but otherwise unharmed.

There were about four Others, grouped in a circle. He searched the surrounding area quickly and found one lookout. He stunned him and set him silently on the ground.

Why not just stun the others? They wouldn't be able to find him with his cloak on, he'd be able to get all of them quickly and they could take Hermione back to the beach.

And Ron? What about him? Harry gritted his teeth. He needed the Others to lead him back to their camp. He shook his head, as if to erase his thoughts, and hurried back to the group.

"Four of them," he reported, "and I already took care of the lookout." Five hammers clicked back. The Muggles set out. Apparently they'd decided on a plan while he'd been gone. Ginny pulled him after her.

They hadn't gotten far before a shot fired. Two more followed. Harry's insides turned to ice. He spun around, and saw a dark cloaked figure looming overhead.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" he shouted, and the silver stag charged the figure, which backed away hurriedly, shouting incoherently.

"What?" asked Harry in confusion. The hood fell back, revealing a man with a scraggly beard.

"Well, I've never seen that one before," he said with some surprise.

"What about this one?" Ginny asked viciously from behind him, and suddenly his face erupted into slimy bat wings that fluttered rapidly. Harry allowed him a few moments to realize his new situation before he stunned him.

"Nice hex," he complimented her with a grin.

"Thanks," she said, but she remained serious. She gave the bearded man a kick to roll him over so that the bat wings were visible.

* * *

No one knew who fired the first shot. They all denied it, since it had been early. But most everyone agreed that it had been Sawyer.

The Others leaped to their feet before the sound of the first shot had died away, pulled out their own guns, and fired back. Kate gasped in pain as a bullet grazed her right arm and killed the one who had shot her.

Charlie shot after a woman and thought it had hit her in the shoulder, but she escaped into the trees. He ducked behind a tree as one of the men aimed at him.

Sayid shot one of them in the head. The last man scooped up Hermione, winked at him, and ran into the jungle.

He heard Sawyer curse to his left and saw out of the corner of his eye as he chased after him for a few feet, firing shot after shot into nothingness.

* * *

Harry and Ginny ran back to the group. Two of the Others were dead. Hermione was gone. Jack was bandaging Kate's arm.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"They got away," Sayid said calmly. "I think one of them was wounded, but I can't be sure."

"We could have used some help here," Charlie snapped at the wizards.

"We did help," Ginny told him, somewhat annoyed.

"I suppose you can't fix this?" asked Kate, wincing slightly as Jack finished tying it off.

They both shook their heads and muttered apologies. "At least all of the bones are still there," Harry added unhelpfully.

"They knew we were coming," Sawyer told them. "I wonder why?"

"You don't know that," Jack defended.

"They didn't see me," Harry protested.

"You sure –"

"Stop it," Kate snapped, interrupting Sawyer. "We need to go before they get an even bigger head start." She stood up and led them deeper into the jungle.


	14. The Battle

At dawn, Charlie surveyed the Others' beach camp from above. Kate's tracking had led them here. There were a few crude huts, about thirty people of varying ages, two or three weapons, and two guards posted outside a hatch set into the side of the hill. Walt, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere in sight. A glance to the side showed him everyone in his group making their own assessments. He could guess what they were thinking: this would be a piece of cake.

"They're probably in the hatch," Sayid said in a low voice. He regarded Harry and Ginny. "I do not know your capabilities," he told them, "so perhaps you should devise your own plan of attack. Wait for my signal." The wizards nodded and moved away. Charlie took their spot to be in on the discussion.

"Shouldn't we know what they're going to do?" Jack queried.

"Ordinarily, yes," he agreed. "But it would take more time for them to explain to us than for us to actually attack." Seeing that Jack was unconvinced, he added, "I trust them to know what they're doing and to stay out of our way."

"So what's the plan?" Charlie asked over Jack's next protest.

"Having seen it," Sayid thought aloud, "and knowing what we're up against…We need to take out those with weapons first. Do not kill everyone, we need information." Charlie shifted uncomfortably as he remembered Ethan.

Sayid explained quickly what he wanted each of them to do, and then they set off. Charlie tried to make his way down the ridge silently, but he kept kicking small pebbles down the side. It was slightly eerie to finally be attacking the Others, with hardly any preparation or notice.

He was several yards above and almost directly over the hatch doors when one of his inadvertently kicked pebbles stumbled down the hill and tapped one of the guards on the head. Charlie pressed himself against the hill as the guard looked up, hoping against hope that the man wouldn't see him, and crazily thinking that Harry's invisibility cloak would have come in handy right about now. As the guard aimed his gun at him, he had a second crazy thought, that none of their plans ever seemed to go right, so why bother planning them at all, and then BLAM!

Charlie yelled in surprise, lost his footing, and slid a few feet down the hill. He shut his eyes and sent up a quick prayer, but a second shot never came. He looked down in confusion, only to find that the guards were just as confused. Their guns were flying away from them.

Suddenly two jets of red light hit them in the chest, and they folded to the ground. "CHARLIE GET DOWN THERE!" someone shouted at him, he never figured out who. He slid the rest of the way to the ground and stumbled away from the hatch doors. A teenager ran past him. He raised his gun. She looked back, terrified.

He lowered it. She escaped from the camp.

And then the hatch exploded.

* * *

Sawyer saw Charlie fall down the hill from the corner of his eye. That's not exactly what he'd meant by "get down" but in the confusion of voices, he wasn't surprised. Charlie must have been confused by the mix of Kate's "Charlie," Jack's "get out of there," and his own order.

Firing shot after shot, he recognized the chaos of the Others' camp as the chaos of a knocked-down ant hill. It was insanity personified, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a trap.

A quick scan of the "battlefield" showed him that they were winning. Odd. The Others had scattered, hadn't put up much of a fight at all. They didn't even try to pick up the weapons of their fallen comrades.

Hostages had to be held somewhere. Probably in the hatch, but there was no harm in checking the huts.

He ducked into one of them. It was empty. Except for a striped snake. According to the poem ("red next to black, you're okay Jack; red next to yellow, you're a dead fellow"), it was poisonous.

* * *

Ginny Stunned one of the hatch guards as Harry Stunned the other. They waited until Charlie was out of the way, and then blasted the hatch doors open. When the smoke cleared, the only thing behind the doors was the rock face of the hill.

"You don't think we caused a cave in, do you?" Ginny asked as they inspected it.

"No, look, the frames just grafted on. It's not a real hatch at all!"

"Then what -?" She broke off to disarm an approaching girl with dark hair, but she hadn't been carrying a weapon.

"Come with me, quickly!" she called to them and waved for them to follow. "Your friends are this way!"

Against her better judgment, Ginny tightened her grip on her wand and set off, Harry right beside her.

"Why are we doing this?" he asked.

"Nothing better to do," she joked.

They dodged opponents and friends alike. To outsiders, it looked like they were chasing the girl. She led them to a hut in the middle of a small cluster. Sawyer stormed out of one of the huts next to it.

He saw the girl and raised his gun to shoot her.

"NO!" screamed Ginny.

"Oh, come on!" he fumed. "Why not?"

"I am helping you," the girl said, and lifted the door flap.

"Ron!" Ginny shrieked, and ran inside to hug her brother. Ron and Hermione were bound and gagged, and incidentally, sitting on opposite sides of the hut. Harry couldn't help grinning at their ability to still be annoyed at each other when their lives were in danger.

Ginny severed the ties and led them out of the hut.

"Hey, thanks Alex," Ron said, rubbing his wrists. Hermione glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Where's Walt?" Sawyer demanded, his gun still aimed at the girl.

"He's not here," she told him. "He was removed when his purpose was fulfilled."

A sharp lull in the fighting made the click of the gun as Sawyer loaded the next round sound uncomfortably loud.

"What's that?" asked Harry, distracted by sounds of shouting in the next hut.

"Check it," Sawyer ordered him, eyes never leaving Alex.

The wizards all crowded around the door and looked in. "Hey, what's going on! Where's my boy!" It was another hostage.

Hermione managed to calm him down enough to get his name, then turned back to Sawyer. "Know anyone named Michael?" she asked him.

* * *

Kate looked around one last time. The fighting was pretty much over. Everyone had fled, after running around in circles for ten minutes first.

"Something's wrong," Sayid told her.

"Yeah, but what?"

"Is everyone okay?" Jack asked. He checked Kate's bandage. The bleeding had started again.

"Just a little rocky," Charlie put in.

"Where's Sawyer?" As one, the small group turned to the cluster of huts and took in the situation. Sawyer had his gun pointed at a girl's head. The wizards were looking between them, then rushed over to one of the huts and looked inside.

In the next instant, Sawyer had collapsed on the ground, jerking uncontrollably. The girl he'd held at gunpoint disappeared into the jungle.

Kate looked up at the ridge. There were maybe a dozen people, firing down on them. The only real cover was the huts. She ran toward them, everyone else following her. They ducked behind them, occasionally looking out to shoot and to see if the situation had improved. If anything, it had worsened, the people on the ridge seemed to be multiplying, and spreading further down the hill.

"Can you hit them?" Jack asked the wizards.

Harry tried to Stun them, but nothing happened. "Too far away," Hermione gasped.

"This is _not_ good," Kate said. "How are we going to get back? If we move, they'll have a clear shot, and we'll end up like him," she added looking at Sawyer, who had stopped moving.

Even though the situation was hopeless, Harry thought he could hear phoenix song, and it suddenly didn't seem so bad.

"What's that?" asked Charlie, pointing straight up.

Everyone looked. But only half of them recognized it.

"FAWKES!" shouted Harry. He sent up some red and gold sparks. Fawkes cried out a greeting. He dived down, neatly coming to rest in front of Harry, who rested a hand gently on his head for a moment.

"Quick," he said, "everyone link hands. Someone get Sawyer." He waited until everyone was holding hands, put out his own hand, then hesitated as he watched the jungle. It looked like hundreds of figures, including dementors, were charging out of the jungle at them.

He grabbed hold of Fawkes, and as he felt the phoenix prepare to fly, locked eyes with one of the figures.

"SIRIUS!" he shouted. But they were gone.


	15. Conclusions?

Jack blinked. And then blinked again. And then a third time, because what he was seeing was impossible.

"Guys, where are we?" Charlie asked.

"St. Mungo's," gasped Hermione, and her face broke into a grin. Fawkes chirped in agreement. Harry shook his head to erase that last image of Sirius' face. He must have imagined it, it couldn't be real.

"It's a hospital," Jack realized.

"For wizards," Ginny added.

"Are we still on the island?" asked Kate.

"London, actually," said Ron.

A stressed nurse bustled up to them. "Oh dear oh dear oh dear," she cried. "No phoenixes please," she shooed Fawkes away. He disappeared in a burst of flames. "And this isn't orderly at all, please please form a line over there," she waved and pushed them over. "Oh!" she exclaimed to Harry. "Are you –"

"Yeah," he cut her off, but it didn't work.

"Oh my!" she gasped. "Harry Potter! And all of his little friends!" she beamed up at the Muggles for an instant before staring at Harry's scar. "Right this way, if you please, right this way!" She conjured a stretcher for Sawyer, then led them through a pair of double doors, down a small corridor, and into a small white room with a table in the middle and an empty picture on the wall. "Someone will be right with you," she assured them. "Oh, Harry Potter!" And she shut the door.

"Do you always receive special treatment?" asked Sayid. Jack inspected the picture, and thought he could hear voices just out sight.

"I'd rather I didn't," Harry protested.

"I don't care if he does or not, I'm just glad to be off that stupid island!" said Kate. The others agreed.

"What about the rest?" asked Charlie. "What about Hurley? Eko? Claire and the baby?"

"I'm sure we can get someone to go back and rescue them," Harry assured him. Ron and Ginny agreed. Hermione looked down at her wand.

"Speaking of which," said Kate, "Sun will be able to have _her_ baby in a hospital."

Hermione's head jerked up. "She's going to have a baby?" asked Charlie.

"No one told you?" asked Kate. "Gee, I thought everybody knew by now."

"_Newcomers!_" Hermione cried. "The newcomers are the babies! First Aaron, and now Sun's baby!"

"I dunno, Hermione," said Ron, "That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Oh only for a –" she began to argue.

The door swung open. Scrimgeour, flocked by two Ministry flunkies, had arrived.

"Harry," he said, adopting a friendly tone. Harry's own relaxed air vanished as he stepped forward.

"Scrimgeour," he said flatly.

"Been having fun these last five days?" he asked, maintaining that friendly tone.

"Hardly. My friends are hurt, and the rest of them are lost on an island in the middle of the Pacific. You need to send someone to pick them up before any more of them are killed."

"No, Harry, that won't do," Scrimgeour said as he entered the room. "You see, you've broken the Statute of Secrecy, and the Ministry now has to clean up another one of your messes." With a snap of his fingers, a piece of purple paper appeared. "'Send a squad of Obliviators to coordinates…'" he rattled off a few numbers. The Muggles were staring at him in disbelief. "'Erase the memories of the past five days of every single person on that island. By order of Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic.'" The paper folded itself into a purple paper airplane and whipped itself down the corridor.

"And now for your friends," he said. He and the two flunkies pulled out their wands and three voices said "_Obliviate!_" Kate's, Charlie's, and Sayid's eyes all glazed over as their memories were modified.

"NO!" Harry shouted, and Disarmed the Minister. Jack shot the Minister in the shoulder, but the flunkies modified Jack's and Sawyer's memories anyway.

"Take these back to their island," the Minister told the flunkies. Three St. Mungo's officials came into the room. Each person grabbed one of the Muggles and Disapparated.

Scrimgeour fled into the corridor and locked the door.

"They're gone," said Ron.

"It was so fast," cried Ginny, her wand hanging limply at her side.

They looked at Hermione.

"Well honestly," she said, "They were Muggles, you knew the Ministry wouldn't keep them here!"

"Well, they're not keeping _us_ here," Harry declared. "We'll just have to go back ourselves." He blasted the door and stepped through.

"_Obliviate!_" a St. Mungo's official cast. He had been waiting for them in the corridor.

"_Obliviate! Obliviate! Obliviate!_"

* * *

a few days later

* * *

In the dark jungle, Jack and Kate turned a person over in order to see their face.

"Michael!"

* * *

a few days after that

* * *

"Hey, look at this," said Hermione. She pushed the _Daily Prophet_ under Harry's nose. "'A plane disappeared over the Pacific two months ago, and has yet to be found despite the constant search. Although mostly Muggles, two wizards were on board…'"

"So what?" asked a slightly annoyed Ron.

"So it sounds familiar doesn't it?"

"Not really," confessed Harry. But a small voice in the back of his mind disagreed.

"Harry!" Ginny called. She shoved her way through a crowd of second-years. "Harry, I've got to talk to you."

"Not now, Ginny, I'm late for class as it is."

"This is more important than class." He exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione, then gave in.

"What then?"

She led him to one of the secret passages, then made sure there weren't any eavesdroppers. "I know where one of the Horcruxes is."

"What? Where?"

"Think about it," she said, enjoying the suspense. "If you were Voldemort, and you needed to hide something really important to you, somewhere no one else could find it…"

He just stared at her blankly.

"Somewhere only _you_ could get to, seeing as you have to have a certain ability to get there…"

It clicked. "No way."

"Way," she said with a smile. "The Chamber of Secrets."

* * *

A/N: In case you're still a little confused about timeline and the familiar Sawyer scene: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny showed up and leftbefore Michael comes back, but no one remembers anything that happened. To them, it was as if those five days never took place. The Sawyer scene makes sense when you think about the fact that the characters would react the same in similar situations, even if there happen to be wizards in one and none in the other. Does that make sense? Hope so, I don't know how else to explain it.

Also: I don't know the other half of the Prophecy actually. I never wrote it. But the Others know it. insert spooky music here All I know is it has something to do with, yeah, you guessed it, the babies. :D But it'd be cool if it happened that way...

Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully I can come up with something else to write this summer to entertain you again, but who knows? Also, my Chamber of Secrets theory, here at the end, yeah, I really believe that, it's totally going to be in the seventh book. :D Have a novel day!


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